Combination giant swing and rolling carriage amusement ride

ABSTRACT

A combination amusement ride including an elevated track, a first passenger carriage that rides along the track, and a second passenger carriage that swings from the track or a structure supporting the track. The first passenger carriage typically includes a frame that rides along the track and seat portion that is pivotally coupled to the frame. In addition, the at least one rapid-winding winch typically propels the first passenger carriage along the track. The rapid-winding winch typically includes a power unit, a toothed rack coupled to the power unit, a pinion gear having teeth engaged with the teeth of the toothed rack, an axel having a first diameter coupled to the pinion gear, a drum having a second diameter that is significantly greater then the first diameter coupled to the axel, and a cable wound around the drum and attached to a passenger carriage.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PATENTS

[0001] The present application claims priority to commonly-owned U.S.Provisional Application Serial No. 60/389,978 entitled “CombinationAmusement Ride with Giant Swing Ride and Arched Track Ride” filed Jun.19, 2002. This application also incorporates by reference the completedisclosures of commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,024 entitled “GiantSwing Amusement Ride with Oppositely Pivoting Boom Arm and Cam Arm”dated May 27, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,916 entitled “Rapid-WindingWinch For Amusement Ride” dated May 13, 2002; and U.S. Pat. No.6,416,418 entitled “Pivoting-Arm Giant Swing Amusement Ride” dated Jul.9, 2002

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to amusement rides and, moreparticularly, to a combination amusement ride including a giant swingride and an arched track ride operated by a rapid-winding winch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention pertains to a combination amusement rideincluding a giant swing amusement ride and a rolling carriage amusementride using a common tower or track structure. Combining the amusementrides in this manner saves real estate area and allows greater revenuesto be generated from the same amusement park area. In addition, thevisual effect of seeing the rides in combination provided an additionalattraction to the amusement park.

[0004] Generally described, the invention includes an elevated track, afirst passenger carriage that rides along the track, and a secondpassenger carriage that swings from the track or a structure supportingthe track. The first passenger carriage typically includes a frame thatrides along the track and seat portion that is pivotally coupled to theframe. In addition, the at least one rapid-winding winch typicallypropels the first passenger carriage along the track.

[0005] More specifically, the rapid-winding winch may include a powerunit, a toothed rack coupled to the power unit, a pinion gear havingteeth engaged with the teeth of the toothed rack, an axel having a firstdiameter coupled to the pinion gear, a drum having a second diameterthat is significantly greater then the first diameter coupled to theaxel, and a cable wound around the drum and attached to a passengercarriage. As a result of thus configuration, operating the power unit todrive the toothed rack causes the cable to be wound onto the drum underthe influence of a mechanical advantage comprising the differencebetween the respect diameters of the axel and drum and to thereby launchthe passenger carriage to effect an amusement ride. In addition, thepower unit typically includes an elastic member, such as one or morecoil springs, and a charging system, such as a hydraulic cylinder. Evenmore particularly, the a number of coil springs are typically arrangedconcentrically received with in sleeves, and the charging systemcompresses the coil springs to charge the springs with energy forlaunching the amusement ride carriage.

[0006] The invention also includes an amusement ride launching system apower unit, a toothed rack coupled to the power unit, a pinion gearhaving teeth engaged with the teeth of the toothed rack, an axel havinga first diameter coupled to the pinion gear, a drum having a seconddiameter that is significantly greater then the first diameter coupledto the axel, and a cable wound around the drum and attached to apassenger carriage. Again, operating the power unit to drive the toothedrack causes the cable to be wound onto the drum under the influence of amechanical advantage comprising the difference between the respectdiameters of the axel and drum and to thereby launch the passengercarriage to effect an amusement ride.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an amusement ride according to afirst exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0008]FIG. 2 is a front perspective of the ride of FIG. 1.

[0009]FIG. 3 is a side view of the ride of FIG. 1.

[0010]FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of a track of the ride of FIG.1.

[0011]FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the track of the ride ofFIG. 1 FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the track of the ride ofFIG. 1.

[0012]FIG. 7 is a side view of the track of the ride of FIG. 1.

[0013]FIG. 8 is a plan view of the track of the ride of FIG. 1.

[0014]FIG. 9 is a side perspective view of a passenger carriage of theride of FIG. 1.

[0015]FIG. 10 is a side view of the passenger carriage riding on thetrack of FIG. 1.

[0016]FIG. 11 is a plan view of FIG. 10.

[0017]FIG. 12 is a side view of the track of FIG. 1 showing the chairpivoting.

[0018]FIG. 12A is a front view of the ride of the carriage in the launchposition.

[0019]FIG. 12B is a front view of the ride showing the carriage beinglaunched.

[0020]FIG. 13 is a front view of the ride showing the carriage in thelaunch position.

[0021]FIG. 14 is a front view of the ride showing the carriage beinglaunched from the position in FIG. 13.

[0022]FIG. 15 is a front view of the ride showing the carriage beinglaunched after it position in FIG. 14.

[0023]FIG. 16 is a side view of the winch of FIG. 1 showing the rack andpinion gear arrangement.

[0024]FIG. 17 is a side view of the winch of FIG. 16 in the chargedposition.

[0025]FIG. 18 shows a prior art commercial rack and pinion actuator.

[0026]FIG. 19 shows a first alternative track arrangement with twotracks.

[0027]FIG. 20 shows a second alternative track arrangement with a widerupper track portion.

[0028]FIG. 21 show the alternative track arrangement of FIG. 20.

[0029]FIG. 22 shows a second alternative track arrangement with thetrack bended back across itself.

[0030]FIG. 23 show the alternative track arrangement of FIG. 22.

[0031]FIG. 24 shows a fourth alternative track arrangement with thetrack formed into a loop.

[0032]FIG. 25 shows the alternative track arrangement of FIG. 24 afterthe carriage is launched.

[0033]FIG. 26 shows the alternative track arrangement of FIG. 24 withthe carriage being dampened.

[0034]FIG. 27 shows the alternative track arrangement of FIG. 24 withthe carriage climbing the loop.

[0035]FIG. 28 shows the alternative track arrangement of FIG. 24 withthe carriage riding along the top of the loop.

[0036]FIG. 29 shows the alternative track arrangement of FIG. 24 withthe carriage returning to the start position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0037] Referring to FIGS. 1-6, there is illustrated a first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, referred to generally as theamusement ride 10. The amusement ride 10 includes a swing ride 12 with apassenger carriage 13 and an arched track ride 14 with a passengercarriage 15 that is launched by one or more rapid-winding winches 16.Details of the swing ride 12 are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,418entitled “Pivoting-Arm Giant Swing Amusement Ride” dated Jul. 9, 2002,and U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,024 entitled “Giant Swing Amusement Ride withOppositely Pivoting Boom Arm and Cam Arm” dated May 27, 2003, which areboth incorporated by reference into this specification In addition,details of the arched track ride 14 and the rapid-winding winches 16 areprovided in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,916 entitled “Rapid-Winding WinchFor Amusement Ride” dated May 13, 2002, which is also incorporated byreference into this specification. It will be understood that theamusement ride 10 can be powered by any of the winches described hereinand/or in any of the aforementioned patents.

[0038] The ride 10 has a frame 18 with a track 20 for the arched trackride 14 and a support beam 22 for pivotally supporting the boom 24 ofthe swing ride 12. Thus, the elevated track of the arched track ride 14doubles as the tower for the swing ride 12. The frame 18 includes asupport base 26 that holds it upright but that is not permanent so thatthe ride can be transported to different sites for use.

[0039] As shown in FIGS. 7-11, the track 18 includes main column 28,rails 30, and support arms 32 between the main column and the rails 30.For example, the track 18 can be provided by conventional roller coastertrack. The passenger carriage 15 includes a frame 34 with rollers 35that ride along the rails 30, and a seat 36 that is pivotally coupled 38to the frame.

[0040] The frame 34 is configured to position the carriage 15 spacedaway from the track with plenty of room so that the carriage can pivotsafely when carrying the passengers even if their arms and legs areextended from the carriage. For example, the frame 34 can have generallytriangular sides that are angled inward, made of steel or another strongmaterial.

[0041] A pulley 40 is mounted to the frame 34 for receiving around itthe cable 42, for launching the carriage 15 along the the track 18.Alternatively, a roller or other structure can be used for this purpose.

[0042]FIG. 12 shows the seat 36 pivoting from facing the track 20 (theposition at the left side of FIG. 12) to facing away from the track (theposition at the right side of FIG. 12). In this way, the passengers arealways oriented in the upright sitting position so they are notencouraged to fall out of the carriage 15 at the top of the track 20.Also, FIGS. 12A and 12B, as well as FIGS. 13, 14, and 15, show thecarriage 15 being launched by the rapid-winding winch 16 from theposition shown at the right side of FIG. 12.

[0043]FIGS. 16 and 17 show details of an alternative form of therapid-winding winch 16 in operation. In this form, the winch 16 stillhas a drum 44 and an axle 46 with a diameter that is substantially lessthat that of the drum to produce a mechanical advantage when winding thecable in and out from the drum. Instead of tethers wound about the axle,however, the axle 46 has a pinion gear 48 that meshes with a rack gear50 connected to the charging mechanism (launch chamber 52). Also, therack gear 50 can be connected at its other end to a dampening chamber54. The rack gear 50 is moved by the actuator 56 to charge the launchchamber 52. For example, the actuator 56, rack gear 50, and pinion gear48 can be provided by a rotary actuator similar to the prior art deviceshown in FIG. 18. It will be understood that this rack-and-pinionarrangement can be used in any of the winches and in any of theamusement rides described herein and/or in any of the aforementionedpatent applications.

[0044]FIG. 19 shows a first alternative track arrangement 118 with twotracks (118 a and 118 b) so that two passenger carriages can be run atthe same time.

[0045]FIGS. 20 and 21 show a second alternative track arrangement 218with a closely spaced lower track portion 218 a (to minimize the groundspace required) and a wider upper track portion 218 b.

[0046]FIGS. 22 and 23 show a third alternative track arrangement 318with the track bended back across itself.

[0047] FIGS. 24-29 show a fourth alternative track arrangement 418 withthe track formed into a loop and with a lunch winch 418 a and adampening winch 418 b. Also, the pivotal carriage 415 pivots as it movesalong the track for safety and added thrills.

[0048] It should be understood that the foregoing description relatesonly to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and thatnumerous changes may be made therein without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An amusement ride, comprising: an elevatedtrack; a first passenger carriage that rides along the track; and asecond passenger carriage that swings from the track or a structuresupporting the track.
 2. The amusement ride of claim 1, wherein thefirst passenger carriage includes a frame that rides along the track andseat portion that is pivotally coupled to the frame.
 3. The amusementride of claim 1, further comprising at least one rapid-winding winchcoupled to the first passenger carriage.
 4. The amusement ride of claim3, wherein the rapid-winding winch comprises: a power unit; a toothedrack coupled to the power unit; a pinion gear having teeth engaged withthe teeth of the toothed rack; an axel having a first diameter coupledto the pinion gear; a drum having a second diameter that issignificantly greater then the first diameter coupled to the axel: acable wound around the drum and attached to a passenger carriage;whereby operating the power unit to drive the toothed rack causes thecable to be wound onto the drum under the influence of a mechanicaladvantage comprising the difference between the respect diameters of theaxel and drum and to thereby launch the passenger carriage to effect anamusement ride.
 5. The amusement ride launching system of claim 4,wherein the power unit comprises an elastic member and a chargingsystem.
 6. The amusement ride launching system of claim 5, wherein thecharging system a hydraulic cylinder and the elastic member comprises aplurality of coil springs.
 7. The amusement ride launching system ofclaim 6, wherein a plurality of the coil springs are concentricallyreceived with in sleeves.
 8. The amusement ride launching system ofclaim 7, wherein the charging system compresses the coil springs tocharge the springs with energy for launching the amusement ridecarriage.
 9. An amusement ride launching system comprising: a powerunit; a toothed rack coupled to the power unit; a pinion gear havingteeth engaged with the teeth of the toothed rack; an axel having a firstdiameter coupled to the pinion gear; a drum having a second diameterthat is significantly greater then the first diameter coupled to theaxel: a cable wound around the drum and attached to a passengercarriage; whereby operating the power unit to drive the toothed rackcauses the cable to be wound onto the drum under the influence of amechanical advantage comprising the difference between the respectdiameters of the axel and drum and to thereby launch the passengercarriage to effect an amusement ride.
 10. The amusement ride launchingsystem of claim 9, wherein the power unit comprises an elastic memberand a charging system.
 11. The amusement ride launching system of claim10, wherein the charging system a hydraulic cylinder.
 12. The amusementride launching system of claim 11, wherein the elastic member comprisesa plurality of coil springs.
 13. The amusement ride launching system ofclaim 12, wherein the a plurality of the coil springs are concentricallyreceived with in sleeves.
 14. The amusement ride launching system ofclaim 13, wherein the charging system compresses the coil springs tocharge the springs with energy for launching the amusement ridecarriage.
 15. A combination amusement ride comprising: a giant swingamusement ride supported by a tower; and a rolling carriage amusementride comprising a passenger carriage riding on a track supported by thetower.
 16. The combination amusement ride further comprising acomprising at least one rapid-winding winch for propelling the passengercarriage along the track of the rolling carriage ride.
 17. The amusementride of claim 16, wherein the rapid-winding winch comprises: a powerunit; a toothed rack coupled to the power unit; a pinion gear havingteeth engaged with the teeth of the toothed rack; an axel having a firstdiameter coupled to the pinion gear; a drum having a second diameterthat is significantly greater then the first diameter coupled to theaxel: a cable wound around the drum and attached to the passengercarriage; whereby operating the power unit to drive the toothed rackcauses the cable to be wound onto the drum under the influence of amechanical advantage comprising the difference between the respectdiameters of the axel and drum and to thereby launch the passengercarriage to effect an amusement ride.
 18. The amusement ride launchingsystem of claim 17, wherein: the power unit comprises an elastic memberand a charging system; and the elastic member comprises a plurality ofcoil springs.
 19. The amusement ride launching system of claim 18,wherein the a plurality of the coil springs are concentrically receivedwith in sleeves.
 20. The amusement ride launching system of claim 19,wherein the charging system compresses the coil springs to charge thesprings with energy for launching the amusement ride carriage.